ACCORDING to a report in the Financial Times, people are now returning to their UK offices in their greatest numbers since the start of the pandemic, with average occupancy of workspaces between February 7 and 11 reaching 23.3% —levels last seen in November 2021, before the outbreak of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
With normal occupancy estimated at 60% for most companies and demand for offices currently 7% –14% lower compared with prepandemic years, Mat Oakley, head of European commercial property research at Savills, thinks ‘occupancy numbers will come up as the weather improves, and with a bit of peer pressure. But will it ever go back to levels we’ve seen before? I don’t think it will’.
Although it’s still too early to assess the full impact of hybrid working on the market for rural property, down in the West Country, Ed Clarkson of buying agents Property Vision has already seen a quantum shift in the attitude of owners and buyers in recent months: ‘It’s no coincidence that the latest figures from Nationwide put Taunton top of the list for house-price rises nationally last year,’ he says. ‘Many country-house owners whose families are based down here probably commuted to London four or five days a week in the past; they now find that they only need to be there for half that time, and can work from home in comfort for the rest of the week.’
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